Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC can be a bit tricky.

On the Z10 do the following:

On the Z10 go to the Settings.Go to Network Connections.Go to Internet Tethering.Select USB.Turn on Tethering.

On the computer run the Blackberry Link software for the Z10:

Once the software starts, connect the Z10 via the USB cable to the PC.Open the browser.You should now be able to cruise the net, and do emails.

With the Playbook, the Bluetooth tethering does not yet work. This may be an OS or communications issue.

The best way to tether the Playbook for full speed and functions is using the WiFi option. Simply turn on the WiFi hot spot option and follow the instructions. The Playbook WiFi must also be properly set up. The Z10 USB and Bluetooth tethering mode must be turned off when using the WiFi mode. You can leave the base Bluetooth active on the Z10. There is a lot of available information about using the WiFi hot spot from the Z10. The process is very similar to the past models of Blackberry phones.

If you use the Bridge mode to tether, the Playbook email client software does not work very well. The browser will work fairly well, but slower with the Bridge mode. With WiFi the Playbook can brows at very high speed. With Bluetooth it is restricted to about 1.5 to 2.5 mb/sec. Take care that the WiFi mode burns through battery time very fast on both the Playbook and the Z10. Using the Bridge mode uses less power consumption than WiFi.

To use the Bridge mode, make sure the Playbook and the Z10 are first Bluetooth mated. Also the Bridge mode has to be set up between the devices. You will have to first install the Bridge software in to the phone for this to work.

I did extensive testing between the Z10 and the Playbook. They function well together as far as Internet and email are concerned, in consideration of using either tether or Bridge, depending on what you want to do.

From what I understand the Bridge mode uses some compression. It will not be as fast as using WiFi or Bluetooth tethering. The data cost using the Bridge mode is probably a bit lower because of the compression.

As far as the Bridge phone options are concerned, these features are not yet available. From what I read in a number of articles there are going to soon be some updates coming out to fix this. The Bridge options are a big part of the tablet application with the Blackberry phone. This was the big original application point of this tablet, otherwise any generic tablet would do the job.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

Thanks for the help - The WIFI hotspot works great - very fast. I'm looking forward to my usual past times of reading, listening to music and surfing the web on my Playbook at the cottage this summer, and surfing at faster speeds than before!

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

For years I have used an app called Tether to connect to the internet from my BB. I would love to buy a new Z10 but can't find an app that works with it. One developer told me they are waiting to see how many are sold before they invest in an app for OS 10. My problem is that I need a new phone. This one is close to being shot but I need to be able to Tether without paying the crazy rates carriers charge. The app takes care of that but it appears that the apps are Java based and OS 10 does not support Java. I don't have a problem with that but I need my internet access. I have been a loyal BB user for years going back to the original Pearl but may now have to get an iPhone or Droid product because the most important app that I need is not being developed for OS 10 BB.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

From the look of this thread it appears that no one outside of Canada uses an OS 10 BB yet. 247 views and no comments or help ? I'm sure I'm not the only BB user that uses Tether. If BB doesn't care to help then this will just be another nail in the corporate coffin that has been projected.

Maybe we need different forums for US users as the Canadians don't seem to have the same issues or cares.

The whole idea of the app Tether is not to have to pay the outrageous tethering fees that US carriers charge and it has worked well for years. But it can't work and won't work in the future without help from BB and the BB community.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

Here in Canada the mobile phone plan has to support tethering. If not activated it may not work depending on the carrier policy. With Bell if the user tethers and it's not in the plan the data cost will be very high compared to paying the subscription. My plan comes with tethering. I need it for my work and activities.

I found Blue Tooth tethering between the Playbook and the Z10 does not work. The tablet has time be used WiFi hog spot with the phone. The reason has to do with protocol structure of the data type. I went through this with RIM support.

I do use my Z10 as a mobile USB modem with my laptop. This works very well. The Link software must be installed and running for this to work. The Link software running in the background acts as the interface between the phone and the computer. I use this often with computers. It works well.

For my Playbook I did a strong resolve. The WiFi hot spot uses a lot of battery power from the phone. I bought the 4G PlayBook. I am astatick happy with this decision. And, yes I had to get a data plan for the tablet. I have a 5 GB / mo plan. The cost is okay for me because I use it for work and personal.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

Carriers CAN detect tethered connections put through applications that try to hide it; the easiest way is to use the browser's ID string to detect something that is not a PDA.

In the US that has become ubiquous, rendering the work-around hacks almost entirely worthless. The exception is if you intend to tunnel back into a VPN somewhere -- then it works fine as the carrier cannot determine what you're doing inside the encrypted packet stream.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

@tickerguy...... I don't know the technology that the Tether APP uses but I have used it daily for almost 4 years and my carrier has never bothered me. The app people say it is not detectible. I can tell that the internet sees me in different cities and on different servers although I don't understand why and frankly I don't care. That is information I don't need to know. I am on a legacy unlimited data plan that the carrier can't take away from me unless I let them due to an agreement with our FCC which permitted my current carrier to buy my former carrier. Whether it is VPN or not I don't know although I suspect it is.

My whole point is that BB has screwed up royally by introducing an OS that many app developers are watching before they get on board. So which came first, the chicken.........or the egg?

BB has taken the time to attract games and such but what about real business necessary productivity apps? I live out of my BB as many users do and I don't want to give it up but BB needs to support its users with good business sense decisions and not just expect that the loyal users will continue to follow BB off a cliff without looking.

Maybe BB should go back to the email only handset. No company does email better but many companies do the other things better than BB. If they can't play with the big dogs they need to stay on the porch.

Re: Tethering via USB between the Z10 and a laptop or PC & and few Comments About the Playbook Tethering

I gave up trying harder than BB ever cared to and bought an iPhone a couple weeks ago. Tether works differently on it than BB but it works. Could not find a developer interested in doing an app for BB10 and of course BB did nothing to help that or itself. (I am sorry to say)

I believe that if you wait for a BB tethering app you will have a long wait. Good luck.